The five “Rs” of tax refer to the key benefits that flow from taxation:
- Revenue, to fund public services, infrastructure and administration
- Redistribution, to curb inequalities between individuals and between groups
- Repricing, to limit public “bads” such as tobacco consumption and carbon emissions
- Representation, to build healthier democratic processes, recognising that higher reliance of government spending on tax revenues is strongly linked to higher quality of governance and political representation
- Reparations to rectify historical inequalities from the legacies of colonialism.
Learn more about the role of tax in addressing inequality, strengthening democracy and realising human rights here.
